A PAEDOPHILE pensioner, jailed for molesting a girl while clad as an engine driver during a Thomas the Tank Engine day, had his indefinite sentence overturned by top judges. George Raymond Whitby Sully, 73, already had convictions for sex offences stretching back over 30 years when he put his hand up the six-year- old's skirt as she enjoyed a day at the Mid-Hants Watercress Line, in Ropley, last year. Sully, who was working as a volunteer at the time, never told the company running the Watercress Line about his shadowy past and was taken on to help maintain and overhaul its vintage engines. Mr Justice Burton told London's Criminal Appeal Court the victim had been deeply troubled by the attack. At one point during the hearing, the judge – sitting with Lord Justice Keene and Judge Sir Roger Bell in London's Appeal Court – mistakenly stated that Sully was dressed as the Fat Controller when he struck, a key figure in the Thomas the Tank Engine series. But prosecuting barrister, Andy Houston, later clarified that the retired businessman was in fact clad as the engine driver. "I'm sure the Fat Controller would be relieved," said the barrister, to which Lord Justice Keene responded: "We must go back and study the Reverend Awdry's books." Sully, of Thorn Lane, Four Marks, was given an indefinite sentence of "imprisonment for public protection" (IPP) after he was convicted of sexually assaulting the girl at Winchester Crown Court in June. The IPP sentence, almost identical to a life term, meant Sully could have no hope of release until he could persuade the Parole Board he posed no serious public danger. However, the Appeal Court judges quashed the IPP on Tuesday – and replaced it with a conventional 12-month sentence.   That means Sully could be freed after serving just six months. However, Mr Justice Burton went on to dismiss Sully's conviction appeal, which was based on fresh evidence from a witness who did not testify at his trial. The witness – who also worked as a volunteer on the Watercress Line – stated that at one point the girl's mother told him she had "not seen anything" when Sully was accused of molesting her daughter. But the judge said a cluster of witnesses – including the girl's father and another volunteer – had testified against Sully. The new witness was only a "small link in the chain", said the judge, adding that the new testimony would have made no difference to the jury's verdict. Mr Justice Burton said the trial judge had concluded Sully was a danger to the public, finding that he "could not resist the temptation to revert to his previous conduct." But Sully's previous offences had taken place over 30 years ago, commented the judge, concluding that the IPP sentence was "not justified". A 12- month term was therefore substituted. l Mid-Hants Railway plc has given an assurance to parents that in future all volunteers and staff working alongside children will be CRB (Criminal Record Bureau) checked. According to Mid-Hants Railway chairman, Colin Chambers, since the Sully case, Hit Entertainments, who hold the Thomas the Tank Engine copyright, have made it a condition of their licence that all staff working on the line during Thomas the Tank Engine events must be CRB checked. Sully had not been checked because he did not normally work with children in his role as a volunteer employed in the engine shed. But on the day in question the pensioner had been drafted in to help with the large number of visitors and was working on the footplate of James the Red Engine. Mr Chambers said that while some steam lines had decided not to hold Thomas events next year due to the cost of having to CRB check ancillary staff who would not come into contact with the passengers, for the Mid-Hants Railway the nine-day event was a big money spinner, attracting 20,000 visitors. While it requires the support of some 200 staff and volunteers, the £4,500 needed to finance the CRB checks could be absorbed into the costs, he said. Mr Chambers added that all volunteers and staff in direct contact with passengers on the Mid-Hants Railway Santa Specials, which start this Saturday, will also be CRB checked.